PSSA scores dive as tests get harder

MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO

As many educators predicted, scores on the state’s standardized tests plummeted this year, the first time the exams were aligned with the rigorous Pennsylvania Core Standards.

As many educators predicted, scores on the state’s standardized tests plummeted this year, the first time the exams were aligned with the rigorous Pennsylvania Core Standards. (MORNING CALL FILE PHOTO)

As many educators predicted, scores on the state's standardized tests plummeted this year, the first time the exams were aligned with the rigorous Pennsylvania Core Standards.

State Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera informed educators that more exacting Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams for 2015 resulted in lower scores, particularly in math.

The state Department of Education did not release scores, but an analysis by WHYY/Newsworks showed overall scores fell by 34 percent in math and 9 percent in reading.

The Education Department didn't dispute those findings, but said comparing results from 2014 with 2015 isn't fair because the tests are completely different.

"[T]his is the first year that the new assessment was fully aligned to the new, more rigorous PA Core Standards, so comparing to prior years isn't an apples to apples comparison," said Nicole Reigelman, spokeswoman for the state's Department of Education. "The scores this year will serve as a baseline for future years."

Besides making the tests harder, the State Board of Education also recently voted to change scoring metrics, raising the bar on which scores constitute a proficient rating, meaning a passing grade.

The state said benchmarks for what constitute advanced, proficient, basic and below basic are determined whenever there's a change in the tests.

The state attributed the dip in scores largely to the more rigorous tests. The state also told districts they should not compare these scores with previous years, but the situation is vexing for school officials.

Pennsylvania's academic standards are based on Common Core, an initiative that spells out which skills children should master in each grade. Promoted by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, Common Core has become increasingly controversial as states have adopted the standards.

Students in Grades 3 to 8 take the PSSAs every spring. Scores were expected to drop in Pennsylvania this year. When Kentucky aligned its tests to Common Core three years ago, scores fell by a third. Scores also plummeted two years ago when New York did the same thing.

"It is important to remember that Pennsylvania's students haven't changed — the assessment has changed. Due to the increased rigor of the standards a dip in scores is anticipated," Reigelman said.

Lehigh Valley school districts have been bracing for the tougher exams. Districts have spent thousands of dollars for curriculum changes to better prepare students for the exams.

Bethlehem Area third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, for example, received new math textbooks this year. The school board recently agreed to update its middle school math curriculum to align with the Pennsylvania Core Standards.

Roy is frustrated especially with the score changes. Urban schools, with the most transient student populations and highest percentage of students living in poverty, typically score lower than suburban schools.

"It's like a high jumper who is told 6 feet is the height he has to obtain to win: He jumps 6 feet and is considered a winner and then he is later told that that height is now suddenly 7 feet so he's a loser," Roy said. "Even if he jumped 6 1/2 feet the next year, is he a non-proficient high jumper? Even if he improved over the past standard?"

Roy said he can't understand the state's attitude on testing.

"Who benefits from the obsession with standardized testing? Parents don't care for it, teachers know it distorts teaching and learning in negative ways, and students with overall good academic records will be denied graduation," he said.

Allentown Superintendent Russ Mayo didn't have 2015 PSSA results, but said he will be disappointed if the district's scores drop.

The district already struggles with obtaining proficiency. At Cleveland Elementary School, for example, only 32 percent of students scored proficient in reading and 45 percent scored proficient in math in 2014, before the tests were aligned with Pennsylvania Core Standards.

So with the drop in the PSSA results, Mayo fears the scores for the School Performance Profile, which is the state's annual report card for schools, are likely to dip, too.

While the district has worked to improve students' scores, Mayo acknowledged Allentown students face factors other children don't have to deal with, such as poverty and large class sizes, that make it difficult to learn.

"The bulk of the School Performance Profile is test scores," Mayo said. "That is a gross oversimplification of all of what we do."

Scores also affect teachers. Student performance on the standardized tests accounts for 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation. Test scores previously played no role in a teacher's evaluation.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association — the state's largest teachers union — is concerned the lower scores will influence teachers' evaluations.

"PSEA has also expressed ongoing concerns about the validity and reliability of the new evaluation system, and holding teachers accountable for student test score results under these worsening conditions," spokesman Wythe Keever said.

Reigelman said she expects scores to rise over the next few years as more funding and resources are expected to be put into classrooms.

She also said Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Department of Education believe standardized assessments should be considered in student growth, but should not be the sole indicators of student success.

The Keystone Exams, which are taken at the high school level, were also aligned to the Pennsylvania Core Standards this year. Results have yet to come in for those tests.